By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Attorneys for Nick Reiner on Monday urged a judge to allow him to use his $1.5 million trust fund to pay for his defense against charges that he killed his parents, Hollywood director Rob Reiner and producer-photographer Michele Reiner.
Nick Reiner, 32, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of stabbing his parents to death. The pair were found dead in their Los Angeles home in December, and Nick Reiner was arrested hours later.
A financial representative overseeing Nick Reiner’s trust, which his parents set up in 1993, said funds cannot be released because of a “slayer statute” in California that prevents people from inheriting money from someone they intentionally killed.
Nick Reiner’s attorney, Anita Wu, has argued that he should have begun receiving payments from the trust when he turned 30. At a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, she urged a quick resolution to the dispute and said trustees had already taken $200,000 of the funds to pay their own legal fees in the case.
“The trust is being consumed and depleted by attorney’s fees with all of this delay and work,” she said.
Reiner did not attend the hearing.
Judge Ruben Garcia set a hearing in the matter for October 23.
Nick Reiner was initially represented in the criminal case by high-profile attorney Alan Jackson, who dropped out of the case in January when Nick Reiner was unable to pay his own counsel.
Jackson now is helping the probate attorneys who are seeking access to the trust on Reiner’s behalf.
“Nick Reiner is very much entitled to his own money,” Jackson told reporters outside the courthouse.
He said Reiner wants to use the funds to choose his own criminal defense attorney rather than relying on the public defender currently assigned to his case.
Reiner, who spoke publicly about his struggles with substance abuse, faces up to life in prison if convicted, or the death penalty if prosecutors seek it.
Rob Reiner gained fame starring in the 1970s hit television comedy “All in the Family” and later directed films such as “When Harry Met Sally,” “This Is Spinal Tap” and “The Princess Bride.”
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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